The Workings of Scientology: A guide for media

Transcription

1 The Workings of Scientology: A guide for media 1 1. Scientology Reach Asia-Pacific Region Scientology Beliefs & Practices Overview Basic theory and principles of Scientology The Thetan Auditing E-Meter The Oxford Capacity Analysis (Personality Test) Past Lives Religious Ceremonies Scientology s Objection to Psychiatry Suppressive Persons Alien myths Church Structure The Structure Scientology s Leader Ideal Orgs The Sea Org Recruitment Humanitarian programs Volunteer Ministers Youth for Human Rights Applied Scholastics & Study Tech Drug Education Drug Rehabilitation - Narconon Criminal rehabilitation - Criminon Citizens Commission on Human Rights8 4.8 The Way to Happiness Church Funding The interfaith approach The Birth of Scientology Dianetics Scientology coined The expansion across continents The First Church Scientology symbols The Symbol Scientology Cross An overview This document was developed to help the media better understand the Church of Scientology and addresses a number of misunderstandings about the religion. Firstly, the document examines Scientology s global reach, with a particular focus on the Asia- Pacific region. The introduction to Scientology s beliefs & practices addresses topics often discussed in the media, including: The Thetan; Auditing and the E-Meter. This section also addresses misrepresentations about aspects of Scientology, including: the billion-year contract; Scientologists objection to psychiatry; suppressive personalities; and myths about aliens. The Church s structure is outlined, including: the reasoning behind its hierarchical structure; David Miscavige s role as leader; the full-service Scientology Churches, Ideal Orgs; and the fraternal religious order, the Sea Org. The numerous Church-supported humanitarian programs across the world, including: the deployment of Volunteer Ministers; Youth for Human Rights activities; Applied Scholastics and Study Technology classes and training centres; Anti-drug campaigns; the drug rehabilitation program, Narconon; the criminal rehabilitation program, Criminon; the Citizen s Commission on Human Rights; and the non-religious Foundation, The Way to Happiness. A Church Funding breakdown is included in this guide to address a number of myths and misunderstandings about the cost of Church membership and how Scientology receives funding. The Church of Scientology is all denominational and this is addressed in The Interfaith Approach. This document also details the emergence and spread of Scientology, including: the forerunner to Scientology, Dianetics; the naming of Scientology; the religion s expansion across continents; and the founding of the first Church. Finally, the two primary Scientology symbols are explained. There are links to relevant webpages throughout the document, should further information be required. Alternatively, you can contact the Church. Details below. Media Contact For further information please contact: Mike Ferriss Church of Scientology of New Zealand ph (09)

2 1. Scientology Reach Scientology is the fastest-growing religion in the 21st Century. Scientology is practised in 167 nations and welcomes over 4.4 million people each year. There are more than 4,200 Centres, Missions and Churches of Scientology across the world. The Church also sponsors and supports an additional 1,002 social betterment groups in the fields of education (Applied Scholastics study and tutoring centres), drug rehabilitation and criminal rehabilitation. 1.1 Religious status In October 1983, the High Court of Australia in Church of the New Faith v. Commissioner of Payroll Tax (Vic) recognised Scientology as a religion. That decision adopted criteria for determining religiosity that have since become generally accepted by courts and religious scholars around the world: Scientology is officially recognised as a religion across the globe, including in in the United States, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Slovenia, Sweden, Croatia, Hungary, Argentina, Indonesia, New Zealand, South Africa, Taiwan and Kyrgyzstan. Two unanimous decisions by the European Court of Human Rights affirmed the rights of Scientologists throughout Europe to organise their churches and practice their faith unmolested by arbitrary intrusions from governments. 1.2 Asia-Pacific Region The Church s Asia-Pacific Regional Headquarters and an Advanced Organisation are based in Sydney. The region also contains: A Church of Scientology in Auckland, New Zealand; A Church of Scientology in Tokyo, Japan and 5 Scientology Missions; 14 Scientology Missions in Taiwan and a sub-regional management office in Kaohsiung. A full 10,000 sq.m Church of Scientology will be opening later this year. Scientology Missions in the Philippines, Thailand and Nepal. 2. Scientology Beliefs & Practices 2.1 Overview Founded by L. Ron Hubbard in the 1950 s, Scientology is a unique contemporary religion. Scientology is the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, universes and other life. The word Scientology itself means knowing how to know. Scientology offers tools for use in everyday life. In Scientology, the emphasis is squarely on an exact application of its principles toward the improvement of one s life and the world in which we live. Scientology holds Man to be basically good, and that his spiritual salvation depends upon himself, his fellows and his attainment of brotherhood with the universe. The ultimate goal of Scientology is true spiritual enlightenment and freedom for all. While the Scientology religion owes a spiritual debt to the Eastern faiths, it was born in the West and Scientology beliefs are expressed in the language of the mid-twentieth century. Scientology adds a precise and workable technology for applying spiritual concepts to every aspect of life. 2

3 The word Scientology means the study of knowledge or literally knowing how to know. 2.2 Basic theory and principles of Scientology Scientology comprises a body of knowledge, which extends from certain fundamental truths. Prime among these are: Man is an immortal spiritual being. His experience extends well beyond a single lifetime. His capabilities are unlimited, even if not presently realised. Scientology believes Man to be basically good, not evil. It is Man s experiences that have led him to commit evil deeds, not his nature. Often, he mistakenly seeks to solve his problems by considering only his own interests, which then causes trouble for both himself and others. Scientology believes that Man advances to the degree that he preserves his spiritual integrity and values and remains honest and decent. Indeed, he deteriorates to the degree that he abandons these qualities. But because Man is basically good, he is capable of spiritual betterment. And it is the goal of Scientology to bring him to a point where he is capable of sorting out the factors in his own life and solving his own problems. Scientology, then, contains solutions to the problems of living. Its end result is increased awareness and spiritual freedom for the individual and rehabilitation of his basic decency, power and ability. Basic principles include: 1) The Parts of Man, the comprehensive explanation of Spirit, Mind and Body, their anatomy and interrelationship in every individual. 2) The Eight Dynamics (drives or impulses) into which all life is compartmented and by which people can resolve the puzzles of their own existence. 3) The Cycle-of-Action, revealing what underlies the continuous cycle of creation, survival and destruction a cycle that seems inevitable in life, but which is only an apparency. 4) The Conditions-of-Existence that comprise all life and livingness Be, Do and Have. 5) The Affinity, Reality and Communication (ARC) Triangle, revealing and explaining the underlying principles of true human relations. 6) The Reason Why, answering the questions of what it s all about and giving the very elements of survival, happiness and life itself. 2.3 The Thetan A thetan is the person himself, not his body or his name or the physical universe, his mind or anything else. It is that which is aware of being aware; the identity which is the individual. One does not have a thetan, something one keeps somewhere apart from oneself; he is a thetan. It derives from the Greek letter theta, the traditional symbol for thought or life. 2.4 Auditing Auditing is a central practice of Scientology. The word derives from the Latin audire meaning to hear or listen Delivered by an auditor who is a minister or minister-in-training. It is the process of asking specifically worded questions designed to help one find and handle areas of spiritual distress, find out things about themselves and improve their condition. The goal of auditing is to restore beingness and ability. This is accomplished by (1) helping the individual rid himself of any spiritual disabilities and (2) increasing individual abilities. Through auditing one is able to look at his own existence and improve his ability to confront what he is and where he is. Auditing is precise, thoroughly codified and has exact procedures E-Meter One-to-one auditing uses of a religious artefact called an Electropsychometer or E-Meter. It is a calibrated device used for measuring extremely low voltages. The E-meter is used to 3

4 measure the change in electrical charges in the body that are caused by the spiritual state or change of state of a person and thus is of enormous benefit in helping locate areas of spiritual distress or travail during auditing. It used by Scientology ministers or minister-in-training as a counselling tool after considerable training. 2.5 The Oxford Capacity Analysis (Personality Test) The Oxford Capacity Analysis (OCA) is a self-report test utilised in Scientology Churches since the 1950s to measure changes in how people feel about themselves. People may complete an OCA through the mail or in the Test Centre of a Church of Scientology. The OCA is also a measure of how people feel about themselves before, during and after auditing. It is comprised of 200 questions designed to measure 10 traits common to all individuals. These traits rise markedly in auditing (pastoral counselling), reflecting one s gains. Because the test measures how people feel about themselves, a person s answers will change as they come to realisations through auditing. These changes, then, are a useful measure of the subjective spiritual gains a person experiences. OCA tests are used throughout a person s progress in Scientology. 2.6 Past-lives Scientology holds man as an immortal spiritual being whose experiences extend beyond one lifetime. Today in Scientology, many people have certainty that they have lived prior to their current life. These are referred to as past lives, not as reincarnation, which has other additional elements to it. Past lives is not a dogma in Scientology, but generally Scientologists, during their auditing experience a past life and then know for themselves that they have lived before. 2.7 Religious Ceremonies Scientology ministers perform many of the same types of ceremonies and services that ministers, rabbis and priests of other religions perform, including: Church services on Sundays; formal ceremonies; and congregations for weddings, namings, and funerals. 2.8 Scientology s Objection to Psychiatry No one denies that mental travail exists and Scientologists do not deny this. This is not our position and has just been twisted by those who wish to discredit our push for mental health reforms. People can experience delusions, psychosis and be emotionally depressed. But psychiatrists violate informed consent when they tell people that they suffer from a mental disorder which is just like diabetes or a heart condition and based on a chemical imbalance in the brain. There are reasons why people feel depressed, manic, etc., like this and they must have searching proper non-psychiatric medical exams to locate any underlying undiagnosed medical condition that is manifesting in adverse mental phenomena. There are doctors who do search for such things and once the real cause of a person s travail is isolated, they can be cured. Medical experts commonly say there is no test to diagnose mental disorder and that the subjectivity of psychiatry s diagnostic method creates false epidemics of bipolar or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), for example. These stigmatising labels are based on the subjective opinion of psychiatrists and are often influenced by the pharmaceutical industry. In no other medical field can an individual be incarcerated, deprived of their liberty and forced to undergo treatments they neither want nor believe are helpful all based on a diagnostic system that does not stand up to medical or scientific scrutiny. The Creed of the Church promotes the belief in human rights and in 1969 the Church founded CCHR, the Citizen s Committee on Human Rights, joined by the late eminent Professor of Psychiatry Dr. Thomas Szasz from the State University of New York Health Science Center, at a time when patients were warehoused in institutions and stripped of civil and basic human 4

5 rights. Prof. Szasz was one of the most outspoken critics of psychiatric coercion and patient abuse, which is systemic in psychiatry. (See 4.7 below) 2.9 Suppressive Persons A Suppressive Person (SP), also known more commonly as the Anti-Social Personality, is a person who seeks to suppress other people in their vicinity. A SP will vilify any effort to help anybody and particularly oppose anything calculated to make human beings more powerful or more intelligent. To be declared a SP is extremely rare and results in expulsion from the Scientology religion Alien myths Like other religions, Scientology will not enter into a debate concerning the validity of our beliefs, however this one is easily corrected. Scientology has no religious belief that we are descended from aliens or have aliens living inside us. Scientology believes in the existence of God, the Creator, and that every individual is his or her own immortal human soul, a spiritual being called, in Scientology, a thetan. Thus it is the individual himself. As regard to our beliefs concerning the origins of the universe and mankind, Scientology follows the much older tradition of eastern religion dating back to the Vedic Hymns that one is in brotherhood with the universe, that spiritual enlightenment is attained through knowledge of self, that one has lived lifetime after lifetime and that only through spiritual enlightenment can one fully understand and comprehend the Creator. Beyond that, there is no Church scripture in Scientology that discusses the origins or primordial creation of Earth. With respect to evolution, we believe life forms have evolved, but we believe there is ultimately a greater force God that is directing those changes. 3. Church Structure 3.1 The Structure Spanning all Churches is a system of international ecclesiastical management. From Church of Scientology International through a series of Continental Liaison Offices responsible for their geographic zones, this management structure supports, coordinates and works to ensure that the spiritual philosophy and technologies of Dianetics and Scientology are available to anyone who wishes to receive them and that Scientology services are applied precisely as L. Ron Hubbard set forth. Scientology scripture requires its religious practices be ministered in an orthodox manner, therefore the hierarchical structure helps ensure individual Churches receive the ecclesiastical support and guidance needed to do this. All Scientologists are thus assured of an orthodox religious observance in every Church around the world. Each individual Church is incorporated separately and is governed by its own board of directors. The officers and directors also form the ecclesiastical management of the Church and are fully responsible for providing services to their parishioners and their surrounding communities. 3.2 Scientology s Leader David Miscavige is the Chairman of the Board Religious Technology Centre and Ecclesiastical Leader of the Scientology Religion. Mr Miscavige bears the ultimate responsibility for ensuring the standard and pure application of L. Ron Hubbard s technologies of Dianetics and Scientology. Under Mr. Miscavige s stewardship, Scientology-supported social betterment and humanitarian programs have touched the lives of millions. Mr. Hubbard s religious works are 5

6 more widely available than ever and the Church has achieved unprecedented growth both in physical size and in the reach of its ministry. 3.3 Ideal Orgs To meet increasing worldwide demand for Scientology services and community initiatives, the Church of Scientology launched a program to transform all Scientology Churches into what Founder L. Ron Hubbard termed Ideal Organisations (Ideal Org). An Ideal Org is configured to provide the full services of the Scientology religion to its parishioners, while also serving the community with social betterment and outreach programs. To date, dozens of Ideal Orgs have opened their doors in major cities across four continents, and new ones are dedicated each month. 3.4 The Sea Org The Sea Organization (Sea Org) is a religious order for the Scientology religion and is composed of the singularly most dedicated Scientologists - individuals who have committed their lives to the volunteer service of their religion. The Sea Organization derives its name from its beginnings in 1967 when Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard, having resigned from his position as Executive Director International, set to sea with a handful of veteran Scientologists to continue his research into the upper levels of spiritual awareness and ability. Appropriate to their high level of dedication and commitment, Sea Organization members bear a responsibility unique within Scientology. They are the only Scientologists entrusted to minister the advanced levels of training and auditing and the only individuals who may hold the senior ecclesiastic positions in the Scientology hierarchy. While Sea Organization members are responsible to the directors and officers of the Church in which they serve, the eternal commitment to Scientology as a member of the Sea Organization is a fundamental requirement for service. The first Sea Organization members formulated a one-billion-year pledge to symbolise their eternal commitment to the religion and it is still signed by all members. It is a symbolic document which, similar to vows of dedication in other faiths and orders, serves to signify an individual s eternal commitment to the goals, purposes and principles of Scientology. This pledge is only made by the member of the religious order of the Church of Scientology. 3.5 Recruitment Scientologists make Scientology principles and technology broadly available to others because they want others to receive the same gains they have experienced. The Church wants more people to know and apply the works of L. Ron Hubbard and actively promotes this through a range of channels including the internet, television, cinema and on-line video advertisements, free DVDs and books. Many people are introduced to Scientology through a friend or associate and the second largest category is through reading a book. Scientology is unique in that it does not require or tell anyone to believe anything. Rather, Scientology believes every individual should think for themselves. In Scientology, what is true for the individual is only what they have observed or experienced personally and knows is true for them. Scientology offers a religious philosophy and workable technology to apply those tenets to living that one can use and then decide whether it or not works. Thus people exploring Scientology are invited to study and look and read and find out for themselves. You cannot force a person to seek spiritual enlightenment and such actions would run counter to what we stand for. 4. Humanitarian programs The humanitarian programs supported by the Church of Scientology and its parishioners are expanding at an unprecedented rate. The Church runs the largest non-governmental drug 6

7 education campaign on earth, sponsoring the distribution of over 50 million educational booklets in over 20 languages. The Church continues to be a relentless voice in the fields of social reform and justice. 4.1 Volunteer Ministers The Scientology Volunteer Ministers program has initiated volunteer disaster relief efforts and other assistance on a global scale. There are 203,000 active members who are on call at any time and any place in the world for any situation. Volunteer Ministers who respond to major disasters are either part of the International Scientology Assists team or the Scientology Disaster Response teams. They mobilise at disaster areas, providing unique spiritual counselling for shock and trauma, in addition to being specialists at organising in very intense situations. Volunteer Ministers: Travelled to Queensland in early 2011 to help with the clean-up of Cyclone Yasi and the Brisbane floods; Were dispatched to Victoria in early 2011 to help with the clean-up of the Victoria floods; Travelled to Tohoku (North Japan), which was hit by tsunamis in 2011 caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake to provide care and assistance to officials and survivors; Were deployed to New Zealand in the wake of the Christchurch Earthquake in February 2011; and Spent weeks with the respective fire brigades in the New South Wales bush fires over the 2005/2006 holiday period, and more recently during the 2007 and 2009 Victorian bushfires. In addition: Church Volunteers run literacy classes for members of African communities in Melbourne to improve their English reading and writing skills; Church members volunteer at the The Homework Club where up to 80 children are enrolled and meet with the volunteers to get help with their homework; Australian Scientologists distribute thousands of anti-drug booklets to provide effective education about drugs; and The Way to Happiness Volunteers work with local Australian communities on a regular basis. 4.2 Youth for Human Rights Youth for Human Rights raises awareness of the 30 inalienable rights laid out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Church sponsors the production of corresponding community service announcements (CSAs) that illuminate these rights; each CSA is intended to provide young people with understanding of a fundamental human right. 4.3 Applied Scholastics & Study Tech Applied Scholastics is a non-profit, public benefit corporation dedicated to improving education with L. Ron Hubbard s learning and literacy tools, collectively known as Study Technology. Originally developed for use in Scientology course rooms through the 1960s, Study Technology was developed for use outside of a religious setting and is used the world over to routinely raise reading and comprehension levels. 4.4 Drug Education The Church runs the largest non-governmental drug education campaign on earth - reaching tens of millions of people each year. The Church is dedicated to eradicating drug abuse through education. It invites the participation of all who share the goal of a drug-free world. 4.5 Drug Rehabilitation - Narconon 7

8 Narconon is a drug rehabilitation and prevention program founded in 1966 by William Benetiz who was incarcerated at the time. Narconon is based on the discoveries of L. Ron Hubbard. To date, it has provided more than 17 million young people with the facts about drug abuse. The worldwide Narconon drug rehabilitation and prevention network comprises more than 180 centres and groups across 47 nations double the number of a decade ago. 4.6 Criminal rehabilitation - Criminon The Criminon program operates in more than 2,100 corrective institutions across 38 nations. Staffed largely by volunteers, Criminon also trains the personnel of correctional institutions for delivery of on-site rehabilitation programs. Criminon services further extend to police departments, juvenile facilities, and crime prevention programs. Criminon students study and apply precepts of The Way to Happiness. 4.7 Citizens Commission on Human Rights The Church founded CCHR in 1969, joined by the late eminent Professor of Psychiatry Dr. Thomas Szasz from the State University of New York Health Science Center, at a time when patients were warehoused in institutions and stripped of civil and human rights. Prof. Szasz was one of the most outspoken critics of psychiatric coercion and patient abuse, which is systemic in psychiatry. There would never have been a need for CCHR were psychiatrists capable of policing themselves and protecting patients from abuse. CCHR has provided the vital service of restoring basic inalienable rights to patients in the mental health field. Those rights include informed consent (there being no medical or physical test to substantiate a psychiatric diagnosis of mental disorder), the risks of psychiatric treatments, the right to all available medical alternatives, and the right to refuse harmful treatment. CCHR works with medical and legal professionals, legislators, educators, human rights groups and families, some of whom serve in an advisory capacity as Commissioners of CCHR. CCHR exposed the Lake Alice psychiatric hospital abuses in the 1970s where children were given painful electric shocks and drugs as a form of punishment. CCHR s on-going investigations helped bring about an official apology from the New Zealand government in 2000 and over $12 million paid out as compensation to over 200 victims. CCHR also exposed deep sleep therapy in Sydney during the 1980s, which killed 48 patients in Chelmsford Private Hospital. Five New Zealand psychiatric hospitals were also performing similar treatments later to be exposed by CCHR resulting in compensation for a number of victims. 4.8 The Way to Happiness The Church sponsors an international foundation called The Way to Happiness - a nonreligious moral code based on commonsense that aims to restore values. In the two decades since it was authored, some 80 million copies of the book have passed hand to hand. 5. Church Funding The Churches of Scientology in New Zealand and Australia are charitable non-profit organisations. All donations received are used exclusively in their ministries. Some other religions have secular businesses which provide financial support to their charitable works and some religious organisations receive government funding for their community programs. Scientology churches do not receive such funding or have secular businesses and are entirely self-sufficient through the support of their members. Individual Scientologists support their religion through contributions to local churches. There are requested donations for participation in auditing (spiritual counselling) and training. Those who use the church the most, donate the most for its upkeep, which Scientologists find equitable. There are otherwise no weekly donations, no other tithes. Scientologists make donations because they want to and because the Church has value to them. Churches hold weekly congregational services and other events during major 8

9 Scientology holidays for which no donations are required or requested and there are no charges for weddings, funerals or other similar services. Additionally Scientologists may make donations to the Church s membership organisation, the International Association of Scientologists (las). This funds worldwide social programs tackling drugs, human rights, illiteracy, immorality and criminal reform. There are additionally Sponsors and Patrons of the IAS who provide substantial contributions beyond simple membership. Donations to the las forward Church programs around the world, and are not related to an individual s participation in Scientology services of auditing and religious study. Rather, these funds provide for opening of new churches and implementation of social programs, including in underprivileged cities and countries of Earth. Scientologists also purchase L. Ron Hubbard books and lectures. Their cost is comparable to any book or CD sets found in most bookshops. 6. The interfaith approach The Church is a strong advocate of the interfaith approach on issues important to all religions. Scientologists work with representatives of many religions to support and encourage interreligious dialogue, religious freedom, constitutional law and respect for religion in society. 7. The Birth of Scientology The source and Founder of the Scientology religion was L. Ron Hubbard, who devoted his life to finding answers to questions that have troubled Mankind for millennia. The first widely released results of Mr Hubbard s researches did not lie in Scientology, however, but in another field, Dianetics. 7.1 Dianetics Dianetics constituted L. Ron Hubbard s first breakthrough and it was his initial discoveries in this area that led to further research and the exact isolation of the source of life itself. Dianetics addresses and handles the effects of the spirit on the body. Prior to 1950, prevailing scientific thought had concluded Man s mind to be his brain, i.e., a collection of cells and neurons and nothing more. Not only was it considered that ability could not be improved, but it also was believed that with the formation of the cerebral cortex, personality was likewise irrevocably established. These theories were, however, inaccurate. L. Ron Hubbard discovered that the mind has two very distinct parts and wrote: The source of aberration has been found to be a hitherto unsuspected sub-mind which, complete with its own recordings, underlies what Man understands to be his conscious mind. The concept of the unconscious mind is replaced in Dianetics by the discovery that the unconscious mind is the only mind which is always conscious. In Dianetics the sub-mind is called the reactive mind. The reactive mind does not store memories as we know them. It stores particular types of mental image pictures called engrams. Engrams are a complete recording, down to the last accurate detail, of every perception in a moment of partial or full unconsciousness. Unconsciousness could be caused by the shock of an accident, anesthetic used for an operation, the pain of an injury or the delirium of illness. During these times the analytical mind shuts down in full or part and the reactive mind cuts in. An engram exists below the individual s awareness level yet it can be activated so as to enforce its content and can cause unevaluated, unknowing and unwanted fears, emotions, pains and psychosomatic illnesses. In Dianetics procedure, the individual reduces or erases the incident of unconsciousness from beginning to end releasing the emotional charge or pain from it. The individual is then free of the aberrative effect of the incident and can experience enormous relief and a rise in emotional tone. 9

10 In 1950 L. Ron Hubbard published Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health in response to the hundreds of questions he had from readers from an original thesis on the subject. The book created a storm of interest across the United States and appeared on the New York Times bestseller list for 26 consecutive weeks and has remained a best-seller for more than 60 years, with more than 20 million copies in print and translations in 50 languages. 7.2 Scientology With his continuing research into the mind, by late 1951 L. Ron Hubbard was studying the human spirit to answer the question of who or what was operating the mind. With this basic and elementary discovery of the human spirit, which is firmly in the realm of religion, a new subject was founded: Scientology. 7.3 The expansion across continents Groups of students from around the world travelled to Phoenix, Arizona, where L. Ron Hubbard held classes and lectured on the subject of Scientology. As a result students returning to their areas formed Scientology groups across America, England, Australia, France, Germany, New Zealand and South Africa. 7.4 The First Churches A group of Los Angeles Scientologists formed the first Church of Scientology in February New Zealand followed registering the second Scientology church in January Australia was one of the largest early growth areas for the religion and the Melbourne church was formally established later that same year, with Sydney and Perth both following in By the middle of the next decade over a dozen Churches of Scientology existed in some five countries along with scores of Scientology groups in dozens of nations. 8. Scientology symbols 8.1 The Symbol The Scientology symbol is an S interlocked with two triangles. The S stands for Scientology. The two triangles represent important concepts in the Scientology religion. The lower triangle is made up of affinity, reality and communication, which together equate to understanding. The top triangle consists of another set of closely interrelated factors: knowledge, responsibility and control. 8.2 Scientology Cross The Scientology Cross is an eight-pointed cross which represents the eight parts, or dynamics, of life. The Scientology Cross, which was first conceived in 1954, symbolises the ability to live happily across all Eight Dynamics. 10

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